Guided by Femi, a young Nigerian, students can learn about the culture of Africa by taking a virtual tour of the country, reading and listening to an interactive folk tale, learning to play the kalimba, and making a traditional Dogon mask. Click on Teacher Tools for a teacher's guide and related lesson plans.

Make this interactive calendar part of your daily routine during the holiday season. Each day of Advent, students can click to open a window and discover answers to questions about Christmas celebrations throughout the world.

This Web Quest engages students in examining the complexities of Victorian society through the eyes of Ebenezer Scrooge. Having developed a new attitude after visitations from the three spirits, Scrooge is ready to change the world by running for mayor of London. Students - working as campaign managers - must help Ebenezer develop campaign points and outline strategies to woo the public into accepting his ideas for social reform. Aspects of Victorian life described in A Christmas Carol, form the basis for this activity, although it could easily be adapted to any of his other novels.

In the Classroom

This would actually be a great resource for a government class working right before the holidays! During a unit on campaigns, use this activity as a way for students to think outside of the box in applying their lessons. This could even be used alongside a language arts classroom studying "A Christmas Carol," to ensure all students are up to snuff on Scrooge's character. This is a fun way to look at political campaigns with an interdisciplinary focus.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on the interactive whiteboard, and have student volunteers take turns moving the required directions to review a lesson on the compass directions. The game is quick, but students will enjoy the practice and the brief challenge. Make sure to let students control the interactive whiteboard - it tends to increase motivation for participation!

Use this interactive geography quiz as an independent review activity or for Geography Bee preparation. Select from a variety of topics and regions of the world. Some of the advertising is rather annoying, but the quizzes themselves are great.

In the Classroom

Use the "celebrate Birthdays" to create a "this day in history" display for the classroom. The other sections of the website would be excellent to review for any subject, so find the appropriate subject and have students open the site on individual computers. In groups of 2-3, have students compete to see who can get the highest score! Be sure to post the site on your class webpage, allowing students to use the site for review before a summative assessment.

This well-organized WebQuest involves students in investigating how Christmas is celebrated in cultures around the world. Materials and online resources are provided; the only thing you must contribute is the computer lab.

In the Classroom

Use this webquest on Christmas before the holidays - hopefully in time for a unit or lesson on world religions. While clearly the focus is Christianity, students might still enjoy the varying traditions among other nations - especially the unique ones of Eastern Europe!

Instead of creating a paper or oral report, have students complete the task with an online books using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. The rubric would still apply, and it would be something new to get students interested in the project.

Make the connection between scientific understanding, literature, and cultural diversity with this fascinating collection of myths and legends that reflect our human attempts at explaining the sun in terms of our own world views. Solar tales from the indigenous peoples of Australia, the Americas, and Mesopotamia are included, along with Judeo-Christian views and observations of ancient astronomers.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the free and interactive lesson plans and classroom activities hosted on this site! Under the "educators" section are plenty of ideas, categorized by grade level and subject. Be sure to save this site as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on.

Take your students on a virtual tour of Japan with this beautifully designed site that investigates Japanese culture from a kid's perspective. It's easy to navigate and filled with easy-to-understand text, pictures, and interactive surprises. Complete a virtual origami airplane, compose a tune on the koto, and learn to say some basic everyday phrases in Japanese. There is SO much to see and do on this site. Provide some direction for your students before turning them loose.

In the Classroom

Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit on Japanese culture. Because there is a lot of content on the site, we recommend creating a guide to help highlight what is most important for students. For help creating easy graphic organizers, we recommend using Graphic Organizer Maker, (reviewed here).

What can artifacts reveal about the ancient men and women who created them? This site encourages students to think about the type of information human-made objects can reveal about people of the past and present. The three print-friendly lesson plans are the true treasures on this site. With incredible detail they walk through the process of setting up a series of archaeological tasks and provide related worksheets and charts. Topics explored include identifying artifacts, dating soil layers, and interpreting artifacts using typology.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the free lesson plans offered on this site! Lessons are offered for Science, Language Arts and History classrooms - each with a useful review of the topic to help refresh teachers. Make sure and save this one as a favorite to your desktop!

Enrich a unit on ancient Egypt with the outstanding interactive games, multimedia galleries, and articles available on this site. Students can practice problem-solving skills as they attempt The Pyramid Challenge or become a Mummy Maker. The virtual tour of King Khufu's pyramid is excellent. So are the interactive galleries and "Voices from Ancient Egypt" features.

In the Classroom

If you study mythology of various cultures or ancient civilizations, this site has many features that will allow you to send students exploring. Create a simple web scavenger hunt for students to discover the basics, or have them use this site to compare the Egyptians to other civilizations, creating a concept map to illustrate similarities and differences (and include URLS to link to images or content they find here a "proof").

Enter an address in the United States, and view an aerial photo or topographical image of the location. Although the images are several years old, they do provide a great perspective for students learning to read and interpret maps.

In the Classroom

Though the potential for distraction is great, when managed properly this can be a very cool tool for a US geography classroom. Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start your study of location, relative OR absolute. Have students look up their addresses OR for security's sake, the address of the school and other city locations. Have students describe the absolute location they see on the map and compare it with what they know of the relative location. Seeing the difference visually may be what separates the two for a student confused on the matter.

In the Classroom

Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit on culture within a foreign language class. Have students try out the site in the other language to allow them to practice their language immersion-style.

From volcanoes to marine turtles, explore some of Costa Rica's natural wonders. Two lesson plans - one on frogs, the other on volcanic soil - are included in the Teacher Resources section. While a bit heavy on text, and a bit lacking in photographs, the site has great content for student research. Aligned to national standards.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the free lesson plans and classroom activities hosted within the "Teacher Resources" portion of this site. This could be a great resource for a World History classroom, or for a Earth Sciences class.

When does a freedom fighter or revolutionary become a terrorist? That's the central question in this presentation that introduces the issues of international law and cooperation that bear on the global pursuit of terrorists. The site combines multimedia presentations, web content, and extensive external links to help students understand the premises behind international cooperation, and the ways in which terrorism tests the limits of that cooperation.

Add this entertaining resource to a study of the Midwestern United States and the Corn Belt. Your students will be "all ears" for this engaging multimedia presentation. While quite regional in content, it does provide students with an understanding of the history and economic importance of this crop. Check out the Teacher Resources for additional information, links to standards, and interdisciplinary connections.

In the Classroom

Save this site on classroom computers as a favorite. Allow students to access it as a learning center or station. This site is a great addition to any lesson about Native Americans, Geography of the corn belt, or the impact of globalization on the farming industry.

This interactive musical activity is part of a companion site to a new PBS show that focuses on the colorful ethnic diversity found in Maya and Miguel's neighborhood. Students can click on each instrument to hear its unique sound, and create original music by mixing those instruments with percussion tracks and environmental sounds. Also available in Spanish.

In the Classroom

Use this site in a history classroom to allow students to become more antiquated with world culture and music OR in a music class for the same purpose. Have students work on the site exploring and making music in pairs. To make the site more fun for students, have them share their creations with peers via interactive whiteboard!

Kids can test their knowledge of world geography with this collection of interactive quizzes. Each one is divided into six categories and may be played at two different levels of difficulty. Students can click on underlined words to activate the GeoNet glossary - the site's kid-friendly dictionary.

In the Classroom

Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit that covers at least one of the 6 categories listed. This would be a great activity for students to complete individually or in pairs, to help them review for a final assessment.

This great collection of black and white, printer-friendly outline maps represent every continent, many countries, various regions of the United States. American historical maps - showing the Lewis and Clarke routes, the original thirteen colonies, etc. - are also included. Each map is available with or without labels and royalty free for classroom and personal use. Requires Acrobat Reader.

In the Classroom

Use the maps on this site as an introductory activity for any and all history units that correspond with geography. Use the blank maps as formative assessments to determine what students already know about the spacial context of the events being studied. After the unit is over have students fill out the blank maps again to assess how much they learned over the course of the unit. Save this one as a favorite on your classroom computer!

In the Classroom

Use this site as a review activity post-instruction or before an assessment. Have students test themselves individually, or as a class on the interactive whiteboard. Have a team competition as students use the site on an interactive whiteboard and try to solve the map the quickest.